Flavanol-Rich Cocoa Powder Interacts with Lactobacillus rhamnossus LGG to Alter the Antibody Response to Infection with the Parasitic Nematode Ascaris suum

Consumption of the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus LGG and flavanol-rich cocoa have purported immune modulating effects. This study compared the host response to infection with Ascaris suum in three-month-old pigs fed a standard growth diet supplemented with a vehicle control: LGG, cocoa powder (CP) or LGG + CP. Pigs were inoculated with infective A. suum eggs during Week 5 of dietary treatment and euthanized 17 days later. Lactobacillus abundance was increased in pigs fed LGG or LGG + CP. Specific anti-A. suum IgG2 antibodies were decreased (p < 0.05) in LGG + CP-fed pigs compared to pigs fed CP alone. Pigs fed LGG had significantly reduced expression (p < 0.05) of Eosinophil peroxidase (EPX), Interleukin 13 (IL-13), Eotaxin 3 (CCL26), Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2), TLR4, and TLR9 and Interleukin-1Beta (IL1B) in the tracheal-bronchial lymph node (TBLN) independent of CP treatment. These results suggested that feeding LGG significantly reduced the localized prototypical Th2-related markers of infection with A. suum in the TBLN. Although feeding CP does not appear to affect the A. suum-induced Th2-associated cytokine response, feeding LGG + CP reduced anti-A. suum antibodies and delayed intestinal expulsion of parasitic larvae from the intestine.